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Posts tagged: converter

Highcon, the digital finishing system supplier, recently held a three day event at its headquarters in Israel to show technology developments that it will soon unveil at drupa 2016 in Germany. The short version of our report on this “pre-drupa” gathering:

Since its debut at drupa 2012, Highcon has placed 25 of its “Euclid” and “Euclid II” devices globally

In 2016 it will add a new portfolio of digital cutting and creasing systems and related tools, the Highcon Beam, Highcon Euclid III and the Highcon Pulse.

These products will give carton converters and other printers new access to Highcon’s unique finishing, and also to two applications new at Highcon, 3D printing and variable data cutting.

Label Expo, the premier tradeshow for the label industry, will take place September 29 to October 2 in Brussels. Now decades old, this is the show that never seems to fade, and also one where the role of digital printing technologies always seems to grow. InfoTrends will attend and make a detailed report about it to clients but for now we offer a quick preview of what we expect to see:

A huge HP booth: The stand’s core equipment will be HP Indigo WS6800 (labels and other applications) and 20000 (a 30” web, for flexible packaging and for labels also), but there will be many other products. Ones particular to HP Indigo presses will include a white ink specifically for shrink sleeves and new yellow and magenta inks with enhanced lightfastness, also software upgrades, including a VDP tool for Adobe Illustrator, within HP SmartStream Designer prepress. Some exhibits will be from partners to HP Indigo (finishing Read more »

This month consumers in Europe are beginning to see Coca Cola bottles on retail shelves labeled in a new way. Each bottle has the brand’s familiar swoosh graphic and red and white colors, but with iconic brand name reduced or cut out entirely. Instead, the words “Coca Cola” on the bottle have been mostly replaced by one of 150 most popularÂ firstÂ namesÂ in the country where the drink is sold. HP Indigo WS6600s are printing all the names, essentially a giant exercise in versioning–overÂ 800 millionÂ labels will be used between now and the end of Q3. Special kiosks will be on tour in the region so consumers can personalize their own Coca-Cola bottles. Coca Cola is also enlisting social media, first by encouraging Facebook users to create aÂ virtual personalized Coke can to share with someone, and then look for their own names on bottles in stores. The deal is historic, not just because it’s for Coca Cola, but because it likely is, in effect, the biggest color digital label print job ever.

Press manufacturer Heidelberg Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) announced on July 29 that it acquired CSAT GmbH, based near Karlsruhe, Germany, for an undisclosed price. Heidelberg is one of the world’s top makers of conventional presses; it is also a supplier of related technology such as workflow software and, through its young Linoprint subsidiary, drop on demand color inkjet presses for label printing. CSAT is a much smaller company, and one that manufactures both electrophotographic and inkjet presses for labels and packaging, mainly for use in the pharmaceuticals industry. Read more »

Electronics For Imaging (EFI), the parent company of industrial inkjet systems suppliers Jetrion and VUTEk, announced on April 29 that it has reached an agreement to buy Radius Solutions, a top maker of MIS/ERP software for package printing. The purchase is subject to conditions but EFI managers said in a conference call that they expect the deal to close in the second or third quarter and to be slightly accretive to full year 2010 results. The deal is to be a cash transaction, for an undisclosed amount.

The news indicates a growing commitment by EFI (Foster City, CA) to the packaging industry, which it targets already with its Jetrion inkjet printers. Assuming the Radius deal goes forward, the EFI companies collectively will offer products in two areas of importance to packaging converters–digital presses and software to manage print. Meanwhile, in buying Radius, EFI will be buying access to that company’s base of customers, which include some of the biggest converters of packaging and labels, such as Alcan, Malnove, Multicolor Corporation, and Sonoco.